Pilgrimage: Chapter Nine
By: TK Takaishi
As they traveled, time seemed to blend together into a seamless tapestry where the days and weeks seemed to flow past like sand slipping through one's fingers. Deeper and deeper into Ishidan territory the six ventured, striking out blindly into the mountains. So far north, even Ken did not know with certainty what lay ahead. The map that Micah had provided was a decade and a half out of date, and much had changed since then. Civil strife and invasion had burned entire valleys of farmland and forest alike, and paths and roads had all but disappeared as the forest grew over them.. Bridges and pathways no longer existed, and some towns had been crushed so thoroughly into the ground that it was only on close inspection that they could be distinguished from the wilderness. The sacred river Alph was perhaps the only thing that they found without any problems. It was hard to miss, the river being so large near its mouth the opposite bank was almost out of sight in the distance. It was there that Takeru and Kari took over as guides, leading the group north-west away from the ocean.
As they traveled, the land began to change around them again. The left the relatively civilized Ichijoujan countryside behind them, venturing into land on which no man from the outside had tread in more than a decade. The flat plains and rolling forests of Ichijouji faded away. Instead, as they plunged into the heart of what used to be southern Ishida, they found themselves among majestic, rocky mountains. Onward they trekked, through raging streams where white foam thundered down rocky ravines, to placid lakes, whose waters reflected so perfectly that the boundary between lake and sky could not be seen. They journeyed through wind-whipped forests where northern winds lashed the land so often the trees were uniformly bent towards the south. They rode through still, mist-wreathed meadows, eternally shrouded in white, clinging fog.
And still they went onwards. Forever onwards.
The group was more careful now. Despite the urgency of their mission, Takeru insisted on stopping the moment darkness began to fall. The terrain had become too rocky and treacherous to safely travel at night anymore, and no-one had any wish to blunder into an ambush. They studiously stayed away from the main roads that remained, choosing instead to trek through the forest and small dirt paths. Only quick, smokeless cook fires were permitted, lit in small, hollowed out pits that were carefully refilled when they left. In these parts, where feuding houses fought viciously over what remained of Ishida, carelessness could kill you.
Summer rolled into autumn, then autumn rolled into winter as they left the Ichijoujan border behind them. The sky turned from its former forget-me-not blue to a light, lead gray. The sun, formerly boiling hot, turned into a pale shadow on the distant horizon, its weak rays barely warming the rocky earth. The mixed forests they journeyed through slowly began shedding their leaves, leaving behind bare skeletal branches reaching up to the sky, as if pleading for warmth once again. The pine, boreal trees were the only traces of green to be seen anywhere. Small patches of brown bracken dried beneath the deep shade offered by their evergreen boughs. Everywhere one looked, there was a light layer of snow on top of everything, stirred into small snow-drifts by the never-ceasing winds.
Almost a month after they started their journey, Takeru stood on a high rocky cliff, his hooded gaze sweeping the ring of snow-capped summits all around him. The sun was just beginning to touch the horizon, but they had halted already. His jaw tightened in frustration, and his brows furrowed into a worried frown. It seemed that they made less and less progress every day. What used to be twenty miles had turned into fifteen, or even ten a day.
We'll get there in time, he told himself firmly. God's inheritance will be there when I arrive. I've traveled for a year. Surely, an additional week or two won't hurt…
Almost without thinking, Takeru cocked his head and listened to the wind. The action had become a conditioned reflex. Allowing his stand's power to momentarily surge to his senses, he opened himself up to the mountains around him, trying to hear anything out of place.
But no, he could hear nothing of interest. A lone hawk circling the sky above gave a piercing hunting cry. The whisper of the unceasing wind stirred up a cloud of snow off the opposite peak.. Anything that was potentially dangerous would be obscured by that. With a sigh, Takeru turned away from his perch on the rocky lip, and padded back to join the others.
The rest of the group was setting up camp on the side of the narrow rocky path they had been following. Kari was spreading out their bedrolls, while Cody gathered some firewood to cook dinner with. Davis and Yolei tended to the horses, taking off their saddlepacks and attaching bags of feed to the animals' muzzles. Up here, there was no place to allow the animals to graze, so handfuls of nuts would have to do.
"Anything?" Davis said, giving Takeru a sideways glance as the blond boy walked back.
Takeru shook his head. "Nothing I could see, but then I only went a hundred paces or so. If I missed anything, Ken'll find it on his circuit."
"You don't think there'll be any more bands of soldiers, do you?" Kari said with a frown. "This close to Palas, I find it unlikely that any warlord will have a claim on this land."
"No," Takeru said, looking thoughtful. "I think that, if anything, we should be even more careful as we get near the edges of peoples' territory. Now, it's not only one warlord, but several that we have to worry about."
"You're worried that we might get caught in a border skirmish."
"Yeah."
Kari sighed. "I guess that means double-guard duty again tonight."
Takeru nodded firmly. "Sleep with your weapons close at hand. I didn't see anything, and I doubt anyone's going to be traveling during the night, but it never hurts to be careful."
"Makes you wonder when we're ever going to get a full night's sleep anymore."
"Better tired, than dead."
They all sobered up at that, and returned to their respective tasks in silence. With a final wary glance around, Takeru stepped in to help Cody gather some more firewood. "It's going to be cold tonight." Takeru said, his voice only slightly lighter. "We'll need more wood than usual."
Cody looked up with a wry smile. "So we're actually going to keep a fire going all through the night this time? Not just for cooking?"
"As long as you keep it low," Takeru retorted as he bent down. "And choose dry wood. The more smokeless it is, the-"
Suddenly, a twig snapped to the north. The sharp, brittle sound was barely audible over the constantly moaning winds, yet its effect on the five stand-masters in the camp was dramatic. Yolei had an arrow fitted to her bow before the sound had faded. Takeru turned so quickly that his sword was out of his sheath before his robes stopped swirling. Kari, Davis and Cody stood back, ready to summon their stands if need be.
There was a tense moment of silence in which nobody moved. Then…
"Put that away, Yolei," Ken's irritated voice emerged from the woods. "It's me."
Yolei loosened the bowstring as Takeru lowered his sword. "Sorry," she said apologetically.
"Save it for later," Ken's voice replied tersely. Takeru frowned as he looked harder at the forest. Even with his stand-enhanced vision, it was several moments before he could distinguish Ken striding out of the woods, his patched green and brown cloak blending so perfectly into the background that parts of him seemed to be rippling in and out of sight.
When the prince stepped fully into the clearing however, the expression on his face was strangely tight. Quickly, he shook his head at Kari who was still unrolling the ground sheets. "Put those away. We leave now."
Cody looked up. "Why?"
"Men marching straight at us. At least five hundred of them. I think they mean to camp here, in this valley."
Takeru's eyes darkened. "Khaydarin?"
"I couldn't tell from the distance. Perhaps."
Kari appeared by Takeru's side, her brow knitted in worry. "Did they see you?"
Ken gave her an offended glance. "You insult me."
Takeru muttered under his breath. "Well then, I guess we'll have to move. How far are they?"
"I only saw the main body on the other side of the valley. Which means their scouts could be here any moment."
"Merde," Takeru muttered, and sped up his packing. They had never come so close before. "North, then?"
"Just pack," Ken replied dryly as he took off the feed bags from the horses, and untied their reins. "I'll take care of that."
Within minutes, the campsite looked just as it had when they arrived. There was nothing to indicate that anyone had ever camped here. With a nod, Ken turned his horse around, and thundered off down the path. Silently, everyone else galloped after the Ichijoujan prince. This was not the first time this had happened. They had agreed early on that whoever found the threat would be the one that would lead everyone else out of it. There would be no time wasted on trying to describe where the enemy was, or which was the best way to go.
Grim minutes slid away as the six rode down the path. The cold alpine wind stung their faces and hands, and caught their cloaks so the billowed behind them. It began to snow, the light flakes coming down from the overcast gray sky. Kari looked up gratefully. It was not quite thick enough to be called a blizzard perhaps, but it might help to hide them. And it would obscure any tracks the party made. The passage of the galloping horses seemed to stir apart the light veil of white, only to have it settle back behind them as they passed.
Down winding mountain paths they sped, the sound of their passage obscured by the rushing wind. Darkness was beginning to set in again, and the edges of the rocks were beginning to grow crimson. The forest was utterly quiet on all sides. No matter how hard she looked, Kari could not see any sign of the marching men Ken had mentioned. Where are they? Kari thought anxiously as she bit her lip. Perhaps they are farther than Ken thought? Perhaps they stopped for the night?
Suddenly, Ken drew his horse to a stop. He stood up in his stirrups, and motioned for everyone to be silent. Confused, Kari reined her horse in as she watched the Ichijoujan Prince turning his head this way and that, his worried blue eyes flickering back and forth across the winter forest.
Whatever it was that caused Ken to pause, Kari didn't get a chance to see it. A heartbeat later, Ken abruptly swung his horse off the path and into the pine forests and underbrush on their left at a dead gallop. Quickly, everyone else followed suit.
They did not ride far. Scarcely a hundred meters in Ken hauled savagely on his reins. His mount had barely halted before Ken leapt off, his green and brown traveling cloak swirling about him like mist, barely distinguishable against the forest floor. With one hand he forced his horse to kneel down into the frozen earth, while he himself crouched against a tree trunk. Nobody questioned him as they too found cover. Her heart pounding, Kari slung herself off of her horse, forced it to kneel down, then pressed herself into the shadow of a large pine, her hand gripping the hilt of her wakizashi.
A minute passed. Then two minutes. Nobody dared to breath. Kari found herself fidgeting with her weapon, and forced herself to stop. Suddenly, Cody appeared beside her, his green eyes questioning. "Why are we hiding?" he whispered as he wrapped his cloak tightly around his body.
Kari shook her head and held a finger to her lips. When Cody closed his mouth again, Kari motioned imperceptibly with her eyes back towards the path. Cody turned to look. A moment later, Kari felt him stiffen beside her.
A small column of men strode out of the blowing snow like phantoms as they emerged from the opposite side of the path. Ten, no twenty of them. Suddenly, the pine forest seemed too bare, too devoid of cover. Only a hundred meters of sparse pine trunks and random boulders separated them and those roughly clad men. Kari leaned forward slightly as she strained her eyes, trying to see as much as she could through the thickening darkness.
Each of them wore a rough gray cloak dyed with patches of white, obviously designed to blend into the background. There was a slit on each of their cloaks' back, out of which protruded a broadsword hilt. From what Kari could see of their arms beneath their cloaks, each of them was wearing a steel-backed gauntlet. They were soldiers then. Their attire was too uniform for them to be just another robber band. The golden insignia of Khaydarin, or their trademark black cloaks were nowhere in evidence. But tied on their arms, or on their forehead was a broad white strip of cloth.
Kari held her breath, and wished she could hold her heartbeat as well. What the hell? Who are they? Out of the corner of her vision, she saw Takeru shift against the ground as he unfastened his sword's sheath from his belt. Gripping the sword by the sheath as if to show these people the crest, he prepared to stand up…
Only to be pushed back down by Ken. Takeru looked up in surprise, but the Ichijoujan prince was shaking his head emphatically. Takeru's blue eyes narrowed, but he made no further effort to draw his sword, or to stand up. Ken however, put a hand on his own sword as if to draw it, while Yolei took his cue and fitted an arrow to her bow. The Ichijoujan prince was so tense he looked like coiled steel, ready to fly into a dozen different directions at once at the drop of a pin. Uneasily, Kari tensed her own limbs as well. If they were enough to worry Ken…
The white-banded soldiers did not seem to have noticed them. Instead, casting cautious glances about them, they began to march along the edges of the path. One of them cast a searching glare in their direction, and Kari hunkered down deeper into the shadows of the pine. Go on. There's nothing here. Nothing to see…
Slowly, ever so slowly, the man's head turned back, his gaze sliding right past them. As soon as the entire column was on the path, the men moved off towards the north, disappearing around the nearest bend.
Five silent minutes passed as the six remained crouched in their shelter. Are they gone? Kari thought as she looked around the edge of her tree trunk cautiously. Is it safe to go on? Carefully, she rose onto her knees, peering this way and that. The lightly falling snow was obscuring her vision, and she could hear nothing over the constant moan of the wind. She caught Cody's gaze as he rose onto his haunches as well. The young boy raised his eyebrows, and motioned with his eyes towards the path. Kari only shrugged. The path looks safe, but…
"Stavik!" Davis suddenly shouted. "Kari look out!"
An arrow thudded into the pine trunk Kari was leaning on, an inch from her eye. Biting off an oath under her breath, she threw herself to the ground, rolling through the frozen snow and ice as she sought better cover from the hail of arrows suddenly streaking in from the north. "Forward the white lances!" hoarse voices shouted. "Forward the white lances!"
Vicious curses erupted from the stand-masters as they all dived for cover. As she rolled, Kari caught a glimpse of the cloaked men unsheathing their swords, charging forward while their archers laid down covering fire.
"Wait!" Takeru called even as he dodged arrows. "We don't want to fight! Stop it!"
The grim-faced men didn't even slow in their charge. Kari saw Ken pulling Takeru out of the way just in time as three arrows zipped out at the young stand-master. One of the men shouted to the others, waving his arms forward. "Forward the white lances!"
The white lance? Who are they?!
Then Kari could see no more as she rolled behind a boulder, safe from the streaking arrows, and out of sight of the other stand-masters. Suddenly, everything came into focus with startling suddenness. Whoever these men were, they were charging her with drawn swords and flying arrows. Hardly a universal symbol of friendship.
First thing's first. Stay alive. Ask questions later.
The moment she was clear, she coiled into a crouch and unsheathed her wakizashi in a single smooth motion. Pressing her back into a niche in the rock, she summoned her stand, and sent a blast of wind rippling down the forest to the south. The pine boughs creaked loudly as the whirlwind tore through them. Then, blade ready, she waited.
Hearing the crashes in the forest, and mistakenly concluding that Kari was running away, three soldiers came running past the boulder without thinking of looking first. Kari uncoiled herself like a striking serpent as she slid from her niche in the rock like a silent shadow. One man gurgled in stunned surprise as the keen steel blade sliced through his throat like so much cheese. Another screamed a moment later as Kari buried the blade in his chest, then doubled over in his death throes as Kari pulled it out. Whirling, Kari faced the last man, weapon up and her limbs tingling with the power of her stand, ready to be unleashed at a moment's notice.
But the man was not there. Her eyes widened in alarm as she realized where the soldier had gone.
"Cody! Behind you!" she cried, even as she threw herself into a run. A soldier appeared out of nowhere and slashed at her, and she was forced to dodge. "Behind you!"
Engaged in a desperate struggle with a man twice his size, Cody wrenched his staff free from the man's sword and glanced quickly behind him. With a wordless shout, he danced nimbly out of the way as the soldier's sword slashed through the air, taking off a piece of the boy's cloak. But his respite was short lived. Neither soldier gave him a chance to breathe as they advanced on the smaller boy. Grim-faced, Cody began backing off, his simple bamboo staff held defensively. Stavik…I'm in for it now…
Then there was no time for thought anymore as one of the men came rushing in. Dredging up every last thing he had learned from Takeru, Cody pivoted quickly as he avoided the scything slash. The butt end of the staff came up and cracked the man hard on the jaw. A heartbeat later, the boy planted the other end into the ground and leaped high into the air, using the staff like a polevault. One foot caught the man hard in the stomach, while the other kicked the man's sword away. The soldier doubled over in pain.
Before the man could draw breath again, Cody was upon him, the staff spinning in a tight double-loop pattern, cracking arms, legs, heads and shoulders like a whirlwind. The man staggered back, reeling, his hands raised as he tried to ward off the stinging storm of blows. The moment he took two steps back, Cody slid the staff down along his hands, and thrust one end into the man's stomach savagely. The man groaned, falling to the ground as he clutched at his stomach. He did not get back up.
Cody looked down in amazement. I won! he thought incredulously. He had a sword, I had a piece of bamboo, and I-
The sword seemed to sail out of nowhere. The second soldier had not been idle. Caught off-balance, Cody shouted in astonishment as he desperately wrenched his staff around and deflected the shot, losing a large chunk of his bamboo staff at the same time. As he struggled to hold onto his staff, the soldier snarled and swung again. The keen sword sliced the bamboo staff cleanly into two halves with a vicious crack, and carved a deep gash into Cody's leg. Stumbling, Cody lost his grip on both halves as he fell against a rock. Clutching his leg, he panted as he looked up at the grim-faced swordsman.
"Cody!" Kari cried as she ran as fast as she could across the broken ground. Why was nobody helping? Could they not see what was happening? "Over here!" she cried, waving her arms as she danced up and down. "You coward! You honourless son of a whore! Come on, take me! I'm just a girl! Take me!" Her words might as well have been so much nonsense for all the good that it did. The soldier did not even glance in her direction. Grinning in triumph, the man raised his blade for a final stroke. Up…up….Then the sword paused, and the man's arm tensed as he prepared to drive the razor-sharp point down into the boy's heart…
Tchak!
A blinding cyan light seared at Kari's vision as a small explosion seemed to go off in front of Cody. Shielding her face from the sudden blast of blowing snow, Kari thought for a wild moment that one of the others had summoned his or her stand to protect Cody. But no, nobody had a cyan stand…
A piercing scream rang out as the soldier clutched his severed hand. As the snow settled, Kari finally managed to get a good look at Cody's stand. The hooded face looked vaguely humanoid, but it had no mouth and no nose. An angular helmet and visor encompassed the stand's head, casting the eyes into deep shadow. The only visible distinguishing features about it were the slanted, narrow eyes which burned a fierce white in that darkness, and the thick braid hanging down its back almost all the way to its waist. A cloak waved in the wind, flapping from the broad shoulder and chest-mounted armour on which it hung. The stand's gauntleted fists clutched a pair of lethal-looking twin rapiers, one of which was dripping with crimson blood. Wide-eyed, the soldier tried to stagger away, still cradling his the bloody stump that was his hand.
He had not gone two steps before the shimmering warrior shifted onto its side, and lunged. The movement was so fast even Kari could barely make out the stand as it streaked through the snow like an arrow. The deadly rapier was but a blur as it lashed out and stabbed the man in the throat. The man's scream was cut off abruptly, fading into a choked gurgle as he fell. It was over in a split second.
Behind his stand, Cody staggered painfully to his feet, still grasping his leg as he leaned on a rock. "Bastard…," he rasped. "That hurt!" Then, as if suddenly remembering that he was still in the middle of a fight, the boy whirled around.
Kari turned around as well as she realized the forest had gone strangely silent. There were fifteen bodies on the ground, none of which were moving. Their blood was already staining the ground a rapidly darkening crimson. There were no other soldiers left. In the distance, Kari thought she could hear the remainder crashing their way through the pine forest as they retreated. Ken was clutching a small wound on his left arm where an arrow had furrowed his sleeve, and Davis was irritatedly wiping away the blood streaming down the side of his head.
"Is everyone all right?" Takeru called out as he stood in the middle of the carnage. The boy's sword was still dripping blood, but he was oblivious to it, his worried blue eyes scanning the party of stand-masters. There was a rip in his cloak as well, and a few spots of blood on his clothing. Kari could not tell if they were his, or someone else's.
"Takeru!" Kari called as she waved. "Over here! Cody's hurt!"
"No," the boy grunted as he levered himself off of the rock. "I'll…I'll survive. I just…"
Takeru was already striding for his horse. "Kari?" he said tersely. "See if you can help him sit down. I'll be with you in a minute."
Davis was shaking his head, drops of blood flying from his soaked hair. "Stavikan bastards," he muttered darkly. "What did they want?!"
"I'll explain later," Ken said. Yolei started to go help Davis, but Ken shook his head. "We should leave. Right now. They'll be after us when the rest of them find out."
"We will," Takeru tossed over his shoulder. "As soon as I dress Cody's wound."
"I've been wounded far worse than…"
"You shut up," Takeru said brusquely as he fished out a large white bandage from his horse's saddlebag, and hurried over to Cody's side. "We can't afford to have you bleeding like that."
"Then what-"
"Hold still."
Kari ran over to help, supporting the dark-haired boy as Takeru knelt down and tied the bandage firmly around the wound in Cody's leg. The boy grimaced in pain. "Fool," Takeru muttered. "Trying to deflect a sword like that with a bamboo staff. We must get you a better weapon."
Cody wilted under his master's criticism. "It was not as if I had any choice. I slipped on some ice."
"You always have a choice," Takeru retorted. "You're lucky your head's still attached to your neck." Despite his harsh words, his hands were gentle as he tied the last knot on the bandage. Blood still seeped through the cloth, making dark red stains on the clean white, and Takeru swore under his breathe. "It's crude, but it'll have to do. Can you walk?"
Cody flexed his leg experimentally, and grimaced. "Yeah, but not very fast."
Takeru rose wearily onto his feet and patted the boy's shoulder. "I promise you, the moment we have a moment to breathe, I'll fashion a better dressing." Suddenly a small smile touched the prince's lips. "Perhaps your staff-fighting could've been better. But that was some nice work with your stand. Your first time on purpose, if I'm not mistaken."
Kari almost laughed at the surprised expression of pride on Cody's face. For a moment, the boy seemed to have forgotten his wound, so bright was the smile that appeared on his face. Takeru rarely gave out compliments and praise. Even if he did, they usually consisted of a single terse "good". She would have to talk to Takeru about it later.
Takeru himself did not seem to notice the effect his casual compliment had had on the younger stand-master. He was scanning the forest again, the sword all but twitching in his hand. "How long would it take those men to report back to the main army you saw, Ken?"
The reply was instantaneous. "Half an hour to forty-five minutes. Depending on how fast they run."
"Then we'd best get going." Swiftly, Takeru picked Cody up like a little child and dumped him into his saddle despite the boy's vehement protests. "We head west. If they weren't looking for us, they certainly will be in half an hour. Quickly! Ken, take point."
Ken needed no second bidding. He set a brutal pace, pushing the horses at a fast gallop towards the nearest mountain ridge and into the next valley. Since they did not dare travel on the path, they resorted to blazing their own trail across the wilderness, relying on the setting sun and the emerging stars to guide their direction. They kept to rocky ground whenever possible so as to leave little for trackers to follow. Thick copses of brush they avoided entirely, even if it meant going half an hour out of their way.
Several times, Ken or Takeru signaled a halt as he stood in his stirrups, turning this way and that as they scanned the forest. Once they stayed like that, holding their breaths and their weapons as they watched Takeru look for danger, for a full five minutes. When Takeru finally settled back into the saddle, he shook his head at Ken. Without hesitation, Ken struck off in a different direction than before, and at a faster pace. Nobody questioned him. Whoever led, led. If they had been in command, they would have expected nothing less.
Finally, Ken slowed his horse down. The rocky ridge on which they traveled had become so narrow that it had become necessary to lead the horses along on foot. "I apologize," Ken muttered as he dismounted. "I didn't think that his advance scouts would be that far ahead of the main body."
Behind him, everyone else dismounted as well. Takeru patted his horse reassuringly on the neck before taking hold of the reigns, and following Ken. "You were looking down the path. It didn't occur to you that they might also be sending his scouts to comb the forests themselves."
"Who the hell was that?" Davis demanded angrily as he stalked along, jerking his horse's reins impatiently. "And what were they doing attacking us?"
Ken gave him a level look. "Did you notice the white arm-bands?"
"Yeah. So?"
"Those were Nyarc's men that attacked us. The white arm-band is their way of identifying one another from enemies."
"Nyarc?!" Davis said angrily. "What the hell is he doing this far north? I thought we passed through his territory a week ago!"
"Since when has territory ever been sharply defined in these borderlands?" Takeru said wryly.
"He's off to attack someone." Ken said. Takeru was surprised to hear a note of worry in the usually calm voice. "Corin, I think. Or perhaps Lord Marc in the north-east." He blew a breath out through his mouth, and eyed the cloud of vapour that emerged. "There'll be bloodshed before this week is out."
"The provinces turned on one another then." Takeru said in a flat voice. "I thought you might have been exaggerating when you said there was nothing left but fighting. Apparently…not."
Ken looked down, unwilling to meet Takeru's gaze. "It's…not even that simple. As far as I know, which isn't much, three of the original ten provinces are gone, swallowed up by their neighbours. There are only seven feuding Lords now, and trying to navigate through that maze of shifting alliances and violent betrayals is like trying to step through a snake pit without getting bitten."
"Someone explain this to me…," Yolei muttered.
Takeru glanced at her. "Ishida used to be divided into ten provinces," he said slowly, "each with their own Knight to rule over them. The Emperor of Ishida lorded over all the Knights."
"Why bother?"
"It had to be this way. Travel is difficult in some parts of the country, like these mountain ranges, and without a local Knight to turn to, the outlying areas of the country would inevitably be neglected."
Realization dawned in Yolei's eyes. "So when your father's reign ended…"
"When my father's reign ended," Takeru continued, "the provinces must have turned on one another. With no higher authority to answer to, they essentially turned into ten sovereign nations, all fighting for territory and land. I have no doubt that some of the knights tried to stop the fighting. But then…most of them died in the ensuing chaos anyway. The power struggle within the provinces alone must have been frightful. The power struggle for the Ishidan throne…"
"Not all of them died, Takeru," Ken said quietly. "I have this little bit of good news, at least. Some still survive. I know for a fact that Lord Marc still lives. As does Lord Corin. It's rumoured that Lady Isendre resides in the west, but that's only heresay."
"So seven died?"
"Nobody knows for sure. People say there are some who hides in the mountains, biding their time and their strength. There's even talk that some of the knights joined other kingdoms. Don't get your hopes up though," Ken added as he saw the expression on Takeru's face. "My best guess is, they're probably dead. An Ishidan knight would not hide in a situation like that. He wouldn't have become a knight in the first place if he did."
"If there are seven factions, and only three knights left, who rules in their place?"
Ken grimaced in disapproval as he navigated a gap in the path. "Anyone who was ambitious enough and lucky enough to make a grab for power, and ruthless enough to hold it all these years. They would no more respect your authority than they would respect a common peasant's."
Kari looked at Ken over her shoulder. "Is that why you didn't let Takeru show them his crest?"
"I would've let him show the crest," Ken said bitterly. "Until I saw those white armbands. Trust me Takeru, Nyarc would've killed you on the spot, especially if he saw your crest."
"How would you know?" Kari challenged him.
"You think my kingdom, directly south of Ishida, did nothing in the past fifteen years to try and calm the fighting?" Ken snapped. "We sent diplomats too, you know. Tried to mediate a peace. At the very least, we tried to guarantee the safety of our border. Micah refused to believe that the proud Ishidan people could ever degrade into…into this!"
"But Nyarc…"
"Especially Nyarc. Especially him. Five times, Kari. We tried five times in ten years. That's more mercy than anyone deserves."
Takeru turned on Ken. "And what happened?"
"We were rejected four times," Ken said flatly. "The fifth time…the head of our minister was sent back a week later, with a white band tied around its neck. There was a message scrawled on a piece of parchment using the poor man's blood saying in no uncertain terms that any who followed would die even worse deaths."
There was a short silence. Kari glanced at Ken's face. The prince looked disgusted. It was only his Royal upbringing that stopped him from spitting in contempt for the man. After a moment, Ken took a deep breath. "I…I'm sorry for snapping at you like that, Kari. But that message was the final straw. Nyarc is now officially at war with Ichijouji. Even if he didn't realize who you were, he would most certainly have tried to kill me."
Takeru did not reply for a long moment. When he did, his voice was little more than a soft murmur.
"I will have to confront him eventually."
"When you have a firm backing, and an army behind you," Ken said firmly. "There are others you can reach out to first, Takeru."
There was a long moment of quiet as they negotiated a rather treacherous knife-edge of rock. Then, as soon as everyone had crossed, Takeru plodded on, taking the lead from Ken. The others followed on in silence, winding their way through the forest.
Minutes, then hours slid by. The sun set completely, and the forest was plunged into a deep, velvety darkness. The only light to be had was from the half-moon hanging in the sky like some huge silver lamp and the multicoloured pinpricks which were the stars. And yet fear of discovery flogged them onwards. After an hour, the others stopped glancing at Takeru hopefully each time they passed a possible campsite. The young prince's jaw was set so firmly no-one dared argue with him.
For Kari, the journey seemed to stretch on forever. Mile after mile of gray rock slid past like an endless stream of gray. The temperature plunged, and she had to keep beating her hands so she could feel them. There was a faint burning sensation in her chest as she climbed in the rapidly thinning air. How high are we? she thought vaguely. At least several thousand feet higher than Kurtal. I should be used to this air, but I'm not…When she looked around however, she bit back her complaints. If the journey was hard for her, it must be much harder for the others. Yet none of them were complaining. You're a stand-master now, Kari, she thought angrily. Best get used to it…
After the first hour, Cody grew strangely silent as he limped along beside the others. His breathing became more and more ragged, and his face was almost gray with exhaustion. The high altitude, combined with the wound in his leg was taking its toll on the younger boy. Suddenly, he stumbled, and would have fallen had Kari not been there to catch his arm. A shower of small pebbles rolled and clattered their way down the steep cliff on their right.
"Are you alright?" she asked quietly as the boy caught his breath.
"I'm fine," the boy panted. "Just fine…"
Kari frowned as she sensed the boy's racing pulse. "Let me guess. You have a headache."
Cody looked startled, then inadvertently touched his temple. "A little," he admitted.
Leaning close, Kari examined the boy's face closely. In the darkness it was hard to be sure. Was it just the moonlight, or did Cody's green eyes look a little unfocused? "Breath deeply and evenly," she told him. "And tell me the moment you begin to feel nauseous, okay?"
"Sure, sure…"
Kari was unconvinced. The boy looked ready to drop where he stood. With a final glance behind her, she hurried to catch up with Takeru, leading her horse along the uneven ground at a trot. "How much farther?" she whispered.
Takeru turned to look at her. His eyes seemed to glitter in the inky black night. Kari noted with a twinge of irritation that his breathing did not seem laboured at all. "Not much," he murmured quietly. "Just over the ridge, and a bit more."
"Cody's having trouble."
Takeru glanced over his shoulder, and his brows furrowed with worry.
"The others aren't used to this altitude, Takeru," Kari said. "We can't keep up this pace for much longer."
"We have to be out of the valley by first light tomorrow," Takeru replied softly. "Nyarc might even have men after us as we talk."
"If a horse breaks a leg…"
"We'll leave it behind," Takeru said firmly. "Kari, I did not come so far only to be stopped now. Do you want to be found?"
"TK, I'm telling you we might have to run that risk. At this rate, one of us is going to fall and break a leg. Cody's only thirteen for goodness sake. We're stand-masters. It doesn't mean we're not human."
"If he can only hold on for another hour," he said softly. "we'll be fine. Look, we're at the ridge already."
Kari blinked and looked around. They had indeed reached the ridge. The upwards-sloping terrain leveled out into bare rock, dotted here and there with patches of stubborn snow. Looking back, she could barely make a smattering of dim cooking fires nestled in the valley, doubtless from Nyarc's army. A brief flash of astonishment rippled through her.
"I didn't know we've traveled that far already."
There was a slight sliver of movement beside her as Takeru jerked his horse's reins and moved on. "Come on," he said, "at least it'll be downhill from here on."
Turning back, she realized Takeru was already leading the group down the slope towards the shaded valley on the other side. Down towards safety. With a slight sigh, she tugged on her horse's reins, and led it down the treacherous slope. They should be stopping soon. Once they were in the valley, it would simply be a matter of looking for a safe, hidden campsite. She looked up and began scanning the forest. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to start looking now…
This time, the flash of astonishment that ensued froze her in her tracks.
"Uh…guys…"
Both Takeru and Ken turned around to look at Kari. "What?"
Then they both stopped. Kari's crimson eyes were wide and her face was pale and drawn. With a shaking hand, she pointed out off the edge of the ridge. "Is…is that…"
Everyone followed her gaze.
Not half a day's journey away, the forest suddenly seemed to come to an abrupt halt as if held back by a dam. Beyond the break in the forest, nestled among the huge mountains, thousands upon thousands of skeletal silhouettes could be seen thrusting out of the darkness, some so large they seemed to be small hills themselves. The strange, regular shapes were so numerous they seemed to cover the entire valley floor like a field of cracked jewels. The cold starlight gleamed off broken granite and shattered shale, illuminating tall slitted ramparts, thick walls of dressed stone, and proud, arching spires. And through the middle of it all ran the glistening, twisting thread that was the Alph.
Buildings, her stunned mind seemed to scream. The ruins of buildings. A city…
A city…
"Is…is that Palas?"
A moment of stunned silence descended like a cloud. There it was, larger than life, staring them in the face. Palas…
Then Takeru threw his head back and laughed. The others jumped in alarm as the blond boy suddenly seemed to go mad with joy. Whirling about, he picked Kari up by the waist, and spun her around and around in the air. Kari for her part, hung onto Takeru's neck for dear life as she wept shamelessly, the tears fairly streaming down her face.
"Palas! Kari, we've finally made it!"
**********
**500 A.S.**
The great hall was sparsely furnished, with a single red carpet leading from the tall arched doors to the large, ornate oak throne on the other side of the chamber. Candles in golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling, suspended almost fifty feet above the floor by tall, thick marble arches. A hearty flame roared in the large hearth at the end of the hall, shedding golden light around the room. Carved into the floor was the huge shape of a twisting serpent, its fanged mouth wide open, its eyes decorated with emeralds, and its skin covered with golden scales. There was gold enough on the carving alone to purchase a city. Jewels and precious metals enough in the entire room to control a nation.
But beneath the gold, beneath the red velvet of the carpet, the stone was cold, dark and hard. There were no windows in the room, no natural sunlight. The doors were made of heavy oak, supported by large metal hinges. Neither the fire in the hearth, nor the candles in the chandelier seemed to give any heat at all. The room remained as cold as a dungeon.
Seated on the throne was a man in his middle years, wearing a dark cloak with the hood thrown back. He tapped his hand rhythmically with a scepter with a golden serpent entwined around it. And before him, five guards surrounded a small, bedraggled boy.
"Child," the Emperor sighed. Hs dark black-green cloak shimmered fitfully in the light of the brightly lit lanterns. "Why do you stare at me so?"
Five-year-old Yamato Ishida did not give over glaring, despite the ominous shifting of the guards standing on either side of him. His lips pressed into a grim, bloodless line, and his blue eyes stared defiantly into the gaze of the man before him, as if refusing to notice the chains around his arms.
"I cannot say I blame you," the Emperor mused, as if speaking to himself more than anything. "Any mortal is blinded by his short-sighted emotions…"
Still the boy said nothing. His sullen blue eyes smouldered with rage.
"Come now, I know you want to speak, don't you?" the Emperor said as he leaned back in his throne. "How does it feel to be a prisoner? To be locked alone in your cell for weeks and weeks? Did you know that you've been in there for two months now?"
Yamato blinked, momentarily caught off-guard. Had it really been that long? He had lost count of the days, of the time. In that stone cage, the days and hours seemed to blend into one another seamlessly.
"I know you want to speak," the Emperor repeated, his voice a soft whisper. "Even to me. Anybody. Anyone. Anything to stave off the loneliness…"
"You." The child's voice was defiant, but it was hoarse with hunger and thirst. "Don't try to make me cry, 'cause I'm not going to." All the tears in him had been cried out already, cried out alone, tortured with fear and fright in his cell.
"And why would I want to, boy? I'm trying to help you."
Yamato snickered. "Help me? You killed my parents. You killed my brother…. And you stand there telling me you want to help?!"
The Emperor shook his head. His expression was almost sad. "Child, it was a tasteless task. But your parents were in the way of the greater good. The greater good I have in store for Gaea…"
"Merde!" The boy took a step forward, and spat at the Emperor. The spit almost hit the edge of the man's cloak. The smouldering embers in his blue eyes turned into raging flames. "You lie! You blaspheme! My parents were-"
The small child's voice was cut off as one of the soldiers tugged sharply on the chain, pulling the boy onto his knees. Then in a smooth motion, the Khaydarin sentry raised the butt end of his spear, ready to punish the outburst.
"Stop," the Emperor hissed, throwing out a hand. "I will not have that child struck."
Hesitating, the sentry lowered his spear, setting the butt end down on the carpeted stone floor. He respectfully lowered his gaze. Still frowning, the Emperor looked down at the sullen child kneeling before him.
Inside however, he was laughing. A crack. He had found a crack in the young prince's armour, and he planned to force it wider…
"Your parents," he said, in an almost gentle voice, "were blinded by the lie that has pervaded every generation since the last Seihad ended. Child, you must unlearn what you think you know. Adun's promise of eternal peace was a lie. The Tenken is nothing but myth. There will always be evil in this world, and it is up to the strong to keep it at bay..."
"You blaspheme." Yamato's eyes welled up with tears as he tugged on his chains. "You are the lie! Adun was the Tenken. Just you wait and see..."
"Why child." The Emperor spread his hands imploringly. "Was the Tenken not supposed to have wiped out all evil on earth? 'There will be no conflict, no war, and no weeping.' Is that not what the scriptures say? But there is conflict now, child! There is war. And if I remember correctly, you yourself was weeping in your cell just yesterday…"
"You are evil!" Yamato screamed, his young voice twisted with anguish. "You are causing this!"
A thin smile of triumph spread across the monarch's lips. "But it does not change the fact that your parents lied to you, does it?"
Yamato opened his mouth to retort...and nothing came out. His blue eyes widened as the words hit him.
"The Age of Gods was supposed to be eternal, no?" The monarch's voice, gentle as it was, almost sounded mocking. "Then why is it crumbling now? Why is the Council powerless to stop it? And why, my Child, did God do nothing?"
"'The ways of the Lord are not for mortals to question, or to understand...'" Yamato quoted sullenly.
"Foolishness! You quote scriptures at me as if I should care!!" The Emperor's voice cracked like a whip. "Anyone can come up with words that sound wise. How's this? 'If you want peace, you must prepare for war!' I should be proud, no? I've invented my own scriptures!"
Yamato said nothing as he trembled on the cold stone floor.
"Adun was wrong, admit it child," the Emperor pressed on. "His ideas were too idealistic. How can freedom bring peace? How can cooperation between nations exist, when even the best of them possess the slightest darkness, the slightest evil and selfishness of intent?"
"That changed," Yamato said hoarsely. "We changed. We learned from the Aeon of Strife. Merde, we must have been stupid not to have..."
"Oh my child, do not be so naive!" The Emperor made a derisive gesture. "You think humanity has changed? They have not, and never will, change. 200 Preternum Seihad. The Legacy Wars, fought over the right to Yagami's throne between the six nations. That war lasted ten years, Yamato. And at the end of that, what do you think they said?Exactly what you just told me oh so passionately."
Yamato's fists trembled at his side. He opened his mouth to retort, but the Emperor rode right over the younger prince's protests.
"Scarcely fifty years later, Ichijouji invades Sheid. The Taelidani nation is almost destroyed, as much from the battle being fought over their land as from internal struggle and conflict. Another ten years of war, which resulted in a complete redrawing of the Gaean map. Two million dead, no less than half of which were not soldiers, but mere civilians and refugees. And again, the cry goes up. 'This must not happen again! We will learn! We will grow!'"
The Emperor had stood up. His eyes were blazing as he gestured wildly. His voice seemed to echo throughout the cavernous throne room, to fill every corner with its passionate words.
"Seventy years later, the Aeon of Strife! Hundreds of overlapping wars, spilling over from one nation to another. Nations were crushed and made, kings beheaded and new ones crowned. They say that the dead seemed to blanket the earth, that entire rivers of blood carved out valleys in the burnt and charred remains of once-great cities. Do I really need to go on? War has changed, Yamato. But what drives war, has not!"
"Then we will never have peace!" Yamato shouted. "We will always be running away from ourselves, from our own darker side!"
"Precisely…"
That stopped Yamato cold. He felt sick. This was not happening. How dare he? Being captured and imprisoned, he could bear. He could bear the humiliating shackles, the hunger and the thirst.
But how dare this man come and destroy every principle, every moral he had with these blasphemous words that…these blasphemous lies…
They were lies, right?
The older shook his head. " It is up to the strong to lead, to ensure peace for all. Humans are but sheep, desperate for a shepherd to guide them. I only wish to provide that guidance. Now tell me, am I still evil? I work only for the peace of all. There can be no cooperation. There is only unity. How can there be war, if there is no one to wage war with?"
"But my father said…"
"Your father." The Emperor's voice was suddenly scornful. "Why must people cling so passionately to the old? Are you so afraid of change? You are Ishidan. You are supposed to be stronger, wiser…better! You are supposed to be a leader! Distill for yourself what is true, and what is false. Determine for yourself what is right, and what is wrong. Don't let your father do it for you!"
"Adun started the Age of Gods…," Yamato said desperately, grasping at straws. "He stopped a hundred years of conflict and bloodshed. How…how can you…"
"Boy. Think for yourself. If the Age of Gods was truly supposed to spell the end of war, why did your father bother with an army?"
"I…" Then Yamato trailed off as his mouth worked helplessly. "I…don't know."
"He trained an army," the Emperor intoned, "in an Age where war was supposed to be a distant memory. Because he knew it was not a distant memory.
"I have to give the stand-masters this. They pulled off the greatest mass delusion of all time. They knew all along that Gaea was not done with war. That there would come a time when they would have to fend off someone from the outside, or God forbid, fend off each other. Your father knew and didn't tell you.
"Suddenly, my 'scripture' doesn't seem so farfetched anymore, does it boy?"
The blond child felt tears forming in his eyes, and he angrily scrubbed them away. This man was lying. He had to be. No matter how true his words might seem, he must be lying! Holding out his manacled wrists, he glared at the Emperor. "If you are good," he gritted through clenched teeth, "then free me."
The other tipped his head. "You are indeed a willful one, boy."
"Free me!" Yamato snarled. He spat contemptuously on the golden serpent carved into the floor. "If you can't back up your words, you're nothing but another bully, another arrogant bastard with an ego the size of a whale, and the courage the size of a mouse!"
The Emperor tapped the side of his throne thoughtfully. When he spoke again, his voice was chilling. "Know this, the weak are meant to be chained. Chained and controlled for their own protection. But you, you are strong. You do not wear those iron shackles well. Very well..." The Emperor waved his hand briefly, and the handcuffs fell off, clattering to the floor with a loud bang. "You are free to go."
Yamato hesitated, frozen in disbelief. He looked back up, his blue eyes narrowed as if wary of a trick. Then he cast suspicious glares at the guards on either side. Neither of them made a move to restrain him. Indeed, they stepped back, and allowed him easy access to the door.
Finally, he rose slowly onto his feet, and tried hard to summon the last shreds of his royal dignity. " I am free to go?"
"Free to go." The Emperor inclined his head in affirmation.
Yamato did not truly understand, but he promptly turned on his heel, and started striding for the door. The sentries looked on wordlessly as he stepped past. Without looking back, he strode unsteadily for the high, arched exit.
"Do not follow Adun's lie, boy," the Emperor's sibilant hiss slid across his ears. "You are stronger than that. Wiser than that."
Yamato froze. He was one step short of the door. All he had to do was take one more step, and he would be out, but something restrained him. His limbs could not seem to obey his screaming mind.
"There is a battle coming." The other's voice was an emotionless monotone, bleak with certainty. "A battle, the likes of which Gaea has never seen before, and will never see again. The victors of that battle will decide eternity. Do not be caught fighting for the wrong side, boy..."
Yamato stood stock-still, his back to the Emperor for what seemed like an eternity. His tiny fists clenched at his sides until they shook. Yet he did not take that last step forward.
The Emperor smiled, as if he had won a great victory.
**********
Twenty-year-old Yamato Ishida woke up with a start, almost rolling into the still-glowing ashes of his campfire as he instinctively snatched up his sword in the same motion. Cold sweat poured from his brow, and he scrubbed at them furiously with his sleeve. His breathing came quickly and raggedly, as if he had run fifty miles without stopping.
Slowly, as he looked around, he lowered his sword. He was still in the same pine forest hollow he had fallen asleep in. His black war-horse whinnied and whickered, eyeing him uneasily as it danced around. His provisions still lay across from him.
Yamato took several deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart. Sitting up completely, he put his sword away, and stared at the glowing ashes of his campfire. What was that dream? he wondered. I have not dreamt of such in years...
Do not be caught fighting for the wrong side, boy...
"Stop it," the young man whispered hoarsely, pressing his palms into his temples and squeezing his eyes shut. "Stop it!"
The thought faded away like so much foam, but it did not resolve anything. In its place, Yamato felt only a numbing tiredness. And a gnawing uneasiness that seemed to soak into his limbs. A part of him wanted to lie down and die. Another wanted to get up and run. To search. The restless energy would not leave him.
Slowly, he lowered his hands from his face, and stared at them. They were slender, delicate hands. The sword calluses seemed out of place on them, as if they were not truly meant to hold a sword. Yet wield a sword they could.
But to what end? He wondered again. What is my purpose in this drama? Merde, I feel like an actor that has forgotten his lines. What to do? Where to go?
Do not be caught fighting for the wrong side, boy...
Yamato glanced at his sword. Then he got up, taking his weapon and provisions with him. Untying his horse, he mounted, settling into the saddle easily. It was still full night. He had slept early in the afternoon, yet the restless energy would not leave. So he rode, disappearing into the night as easily as a wraith.
"It is winter," he murmured to himself. "Perhaps I should head south. I hear it is always warm in Fan-Tzu…"
**Author's notes: I apologize, on my hands and knees, for the extremely long wait for this chapter. School cracked down so hard in the past two months that my head is still spinning. Anyone in the IB (International Baccaleurate) program? Ever heard of the Extended Essay? A word of advice if you haven't done it yet. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!!!!!!
*mutters angrily* I'm not 100% satisfied with this chapter yet, (yeah, I'm a perfectionist), but I wanted to post ASAP to make up for the lost time. The sad thing is, there is no guarantee that this might not happen again.
Someone once said that this was a thought-provoking fic. (BoarderKC, I think. See? I DO read my reviews!) Yes, I have had a theme planned out for this fic from the beginning, like all my other stories. The Diaboromon saga's theme was, among other things: never lose hope. Innocents of War…if you can't tell from the title alone, you need some lessons in literature. This one…the theme is just beginning to come out.
Just my little statement on world peace. ^_^ (And before you start shooting me down for being pessimistic, just remember you don't know exactly what theme I'm driving at until I'm done the story)
A note on Takari. The demand for Takari seems to be rising again. You should know by now that I usually don't like to put too much sap in my stories. If I wanted to write a romance, I would go about it in a totally different way (ask me if you want. I won't bore everyone by talking about it here). This is an A/A fic, with a dash of drama, so don't expect too much.